The Fire Map: Adventure Cycling's Hottest New Resource

Our routes & mapping and IT teams have collaborated to create a new resource for cyclists touring on the Adventure Cycling Route Network: linked at the our temporary road closures page is the new Adventure Cycling Fire Map. (You can also find the "Forest Fire Map" link on the right hand navigation of all our route pages on our website.)

Every year, a few of our routes are affected by forest fires, usually when the smoke reduces visibility to the point where local authorities close the roads. This new tool utilizes a Google map which has been overlaid with the entire Adventure Cycling Route Network. In addition, the map is linked to the United States Forest Service GeoMAC fire incident database.

The perimeters of every fire in the U.S. are updated daily, and displayed on the map with our routes. Riders can easily zoom-in to fires near their route and click on the fire icon to get more information. The link in the balloon will direct users to a website with the latest status of the fire. If there is a closure on the intended route, contact information can be utilized to call local agencies for detour information. There is also information on wind direction and speed, which can be used to estimate smoke coverage.

This new resource should help cyclists plan ahead and avoid delays imposed by natural disasters. We hope to add flood, weather and snow depth overlays in the future, making the map even more useful. Please give the new Adventure Cycling Fire Map a try and let us know what you think.

Cheers, and enjoy your ride!

Photo by Alaskan Type I Incident Management Team. Photographer: John McColgan, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service.

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A special GEOPOINTS BULLETIN posted by Alison Riley.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/07/fire-map-adventure-cyclings-hottest-new.html

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